Will Cillian Play Keira Knightley's Husband?

Just when I was selfishly worrying that Cillian was taking more time off, The Daily Mail reports that he is in talks for a new film role: the jealous husband of Keira Knightley in John Maybury's The Best Time of Our Lives, a film about two women loved by poet Dylan Thomas. Welsh actor Matthew Rhys, who currently plays gay sibling Kevin on the TV show Brothers and Sisters, will star as Thomas, with Lindsay Lohan as wife Caitlin. Baz Bamigboye writes, "When I bumped into Mr. Rhys in Los Angeles recently he mumbled something about three-in-a bed scenes." I guess Cillian's character has reason to be jealous! Shooting starts in May in Wales.

This week in L.A.: Cillian, Tommy Lee, and Kiefer

This week, Cillian was in Los Angeles promoting The Wind That Shakes the Barley. This Sunday's Los Angeles Times has a feature story by Rachel Abramowitz which opens very evocatively:

There's something about seeing Irish film star Cillian Murphy standing on Santa Monica Beach that causes a momentary brain disconnect. The ethereal European vibe practically radiates from him as he clasps his arms protectively over each other, a small, thin figure in varying shades of blue—blue corduroys, blue striped shirt, a buttoned-up ratty blue cardigan. ... Giant brown shades cover his surreal, light-blue eyes—the ones that practically leap out of his face with every performance he gives.

The piece goes on to discuss Barley, including this tidbit about the audition process for director Ken Loach, who's known for casting unknowns and being rigorous about local authenticity:

...Murphy chanced upon the part only because he hails from Cork, where the film is set, and Loach had asked a childhood friend of Murphy's to cast it. After seven meetings with Loach—six in which he and other actors were asked to perform improvisations dealing with moral dilemmas—Murphy was hired.

The interview apparently had a full-on Hollywood setting:

On the patio of the deluxe hotel Shutters, he's drinking coffee right next to the much-tattooed hard rocker Tommy Lee, whose demeanor is as aggressively in your face as Murphy's is deliberately—at least in public—retiring. Still, Murphy seems amused to see Lee, as well as a breakfasting Kiefer Sutherland (apparently, Murphy's burgeoning stardom hasn't made him jaded yet).

Cillian was also spotted around L.A. by someone who sent in a silly account of the sighting to Defamer:

At the Brentwood Market: Cillian Murphy looking pale and frail. He was with a boyfriend?/syncophant (sic) and a family celebrating one of their kid's birthday. They ordered from the hamburger place and sat in the courtyard with everyone else. The guy has lips that every Playboy girl longs to have. I fully respect him as an actor in stuff like 28 Day Later and Batman Begins because it looks like an 8 year old kid can kick his butt.

Cillian in New York at MOMA

Next, Cillian flew to New York City for Wednesday's screening of Barley and at the Museum of Modern Art. He participated in an audience Q+A session with Loach, Pádraic Delaney, and Máirtín de Cógáin. indieWIRE reported that the panel was asked about the Irish response to the film, and Cillian said,

"Generations of families went to see it together. Obviously, you don't take history lessons from a film, but it has made people open to talk about it."

Cinecultist raved that Loach is "totally adorable, like a sweet grandpa you want to take home for a cup of tea and then debate the history of Western philosophy," and said of Cillian:

[He] has had good roles before, but he's particularly wonderful here as a young doctor compelled to fight for his country despite his gentle conscience. Also, Cinecultist was pleased to note that in person Murphy's modest personality doesn't contain any traces of his creepy characters from Batman Begins or Red Eye. Apparently, Cillian is a nice guy who's just a really good actor. Go fig.

Win Sunshine tickets!

Calling London fans: The Guardian is raffling tickets to a preview screening of Sunshine at BFI Southbank on Monday 19 March at 6:30pm. Director Danny Boyle will be there to present the film and be interviewed on stage by The Guardian. To enter the contest, simply follow the above link and enter your phone number at the bottom of the page.

ComingSoon.net offers this quote from Cillian about working with Danny Boyle on Sunshine:

"I was a young actor when I did 28 Days Later... and I'd never worked with an established director really," he said. "It was a watershed movie for me because it was the first movie of mine that people actually went to see. It opened doors, that's a given. I think I learned a great deal off Danny making that film, then I went away and worked on different parts and different directors and roles, and I hope I came back a moderately better actor and was a bit more mature and more confident and was able to bring that to the table with Danny ... It's nice to work with him again because there's a shorthand, and fundamentally a trust. Danny demands a lot from his actors. He wants them to go that final percent. I think he knows he can get that from me and I'm willing to go there for him. It was nice to go back with a proper budget as well, because 28 Days Later... was done very cheaply."